BSB: Mike Martin’s nightmare continues against Gators

Florida came up to bat in the fifth inning trailing their rival 6-0. The momentum sided with the Seminoles as they had just crushed a grand slam off the scoreboard in right.

But then something strange happened.

The Mike Martin nightmare against the Gators rebirthed itself in the form of an epic comeback by the team clad in the orange and blue jerseys.

Martin, the winningest head coach in college baseball history, was at the will of the Gators as Florida manufactured five runs in the fifth to put UF within one.

Jacob Young led off the fifth by reaching on an error. Kendrick Calilao singled up the middle to plate two runs. The Gators added two runs via wild pitches by Clayton Kwiatkowski. McMullen completed the scoring with a single that brought Wil Dalton home.

FSU added a run in the top of the sixth but the Gators answered in a big way.

Florida scored eight runs in the bottom of the sixth. Chase Haney hit the first two batters of the inning, and the next hitter, Calilao doubled in McConnell from second base. Dalton followed with an RBI single.

Austin Langworthy then laid down a sac bunt that was thrown into right field and allowed Calilao to score. Freshman Jud Fabian singles to bring Langworthy home. After Fabian stole second and third, Brady Smith tripled to right.

The Florida pitching staff went into cruise control with a 13-7 lead. Ben Specht came on in the seventh and threw two scorless innings in relief.

But the Gators weren’t done yet.

Florida added seven more runs in the eighth highlighted by Calilao’s grand slam to right. Blake Reese added a two-out, two-run bomb to give the Gators a 20-spot.

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Florida has now won 9 straight against the rivals from Tallahassee. Mike Martin’s team has also lost 14 of the last 15 against the Gators.

The Gators (14-5) open SEC play against Mississippi State on Friday. Florida State (13-2) dropped just their second game of the year, but have benefitted from an incredibly weak schedule early on.